The Power of Push Notification Ads for Targeted Marketing
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Pathlabs Marketing |
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April 18, 2023 |
The average US smartphone user receives 46 app push notifications per day*. These can be practical tools for digital marketers to reach users on the devices they use most often; however, it's essential to use them judiciously and carefully. While some advantages exist, we only recommend push notification advertising to some clients.
In this article, we'll take a closer look at push notifications, including what they are, how they work, and the different types available. We'll also discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks of using push notifications in your marketing campaigns and provide tips on using them effectively.
What is Push Advertising?
Push advertising differs from other forms of advertising, such as banner ads or interstitial ads, because it delivers messages directly to users rather than relying on them to seek out or stumble upon the ad.
Marketers use push notifications by inputting and fielding their ad content to users. Thus building what we call push notification advertisements.
How Push Notification Advertising Works
Push notification advertising sends brief messages to users' devices through an app or website. These messages tend to be short, eye-catching, and informative to encourage users to take a specific action, such as purchasing or downloading an app.
To achieve this, marketers must first obtain permission from users to send them push notifications. After the user opts in to messaging, the advertiser can use a push notification service to send the message to the user's device.
Push notifications can be triggered by a specific event, such as a sale or new product launch, or regularly sent to keep users engaged with the brand.
The push notification's content can vary depending on the advertiser's goals, but it should always be relevant to the user and provide clear value. For example, a retailer might send a push notification advertising a sale on a product the user has previously viewed or purchased. In contrast, a news app might send a breaking news alert related to a topic the user has shown interest in.
The key is making the message timely, personalized, and valuable so the user is more likely to engage.
How Push Notification Ads Differ from Other Mobile Advertising Methods
Push notification ads differ from other advertising methods because they must be more robust to serve as a standalone marketing method. Marketers should prioritize using more robust mobile options like display, native, audio, video, and email. These take up a significant portion of screens and are harder to avoid.
Push notifications tend to have a smaller, brief message that users can quickly look past them. This doesn't mean marketers should altogether skip out on using push notification ads. They should refrain from using them aggressively and just use them as additional support.
Types of Push Notifications Ads
The three most common forms of push notification advertisements are promotional, transactional, and behavioral.
Promotional
Promotional push notification ads notify users about sales promotions, special deals, or other urgent offers. These aim to make the user feel more urgent to act upon the advertising and purchase – or at least convert.
Example promotional push notification ad tagline: "Take 25% off your Target order if you order online. This week only!"
Transactional
Transactional push notification ads provide the user with updates after purchasing or ordering. These include confirmation of purchase, shipping updates, and even reminders to fill out a survey.
Example push notification ad tagline: "Your order is shipped! It should arrive at 6:45 pm MST on Tuesday, March 28th."
Behavioral
Push notifications that marketers display to users based on their past behavioral data. Most often used with programmatic platforms, which analyze user purchases, search, and browsing history to field specialized push ads.
Example behavioral push notification ad tagline: "We found an Airbnb in your date and budget range. Check it out here!"
"Based on your search results, are you hoping to travel to Europe? Check out these upcoming flights."
Key Characteristics of Push Notification Ads
Push notification ads are a highly targeted and personalized form of advertising that offer a range of benefits to businesses looking to reach their target audience. Here are some of the key characteristics of push notification ads:
Targeted messaging: Push notifications allow businesses to send highly targeted messages to specific user groups based on location, interests, and past behavior. This makes push notifications highly effective for reaching users interested in a particular product or service.
Immediate delivery: Push notifications are delivered directly to users' devices, which means they can be seen and acted upon immediately. This can make push notifications highly effective for promoting time-sensitive offers or events, such as flash sales or limited-time discounts.
Customizable design: Push notifications are designed to match a business's branding and messaging with customizable elements such as colors, images, and text. This allows companies to create highly engaging and visually appealing push notifications that grab users' attention and encourage them to take action.
Interactive features: Push notifications can include interactive elements such as buttons, links, or forms, which allow users to take action directly from the notification itself. This can reduce the friction and complexity associated with traditional advertising methods, such as banner ads or email marketing.
Analytics and tracking: Push notification ads can be tracked and analyzed in real-time, allowing businesses to monitor the effectiveness of their campaigns and make adjustments as needed. This data can provide insights into user behavior, preferences, and engagement levels, which can help businesses to refine their targeting and messaging strategies over time.
By leveraging these key characteristics of push notification ads, businesses can create effective mobile advertising campaigns that reach their target audience in a timely and relevant manner. However, it's crucial to use push notifications carefully and strategically in a way that adds value for the user and respects their privacy and preferences.
Advantages of Push Notification Advertising
Push notifications offer several advantages over other types of advertising methods. Firstly, when used judiciously, push notifications can serve as reminders and touchpoints for users, encouraging them to take specific actions such as purchasing or subscribing to a newsletter. Even if users do not perform the desired action, push notifications can still help increase brand awareness.
Push notifications typically take up less screen space than other ad styles. Poorly designed display or native ads can take up a lot of space on the page and be an eyesore. Push notifications are informative and, therefore, sometimes more likely to be engaged with. As a result, push notification ads are a subset of native advertising because they seamlessly blend in with the user's experience.
Another advantage of push notification ads is that setting them up is user-friendly, with various platforms available that guide marketers through the process. Lastly, push notifications can be more cost-effective, mainly if the webpage or app that displays the push ads belongs to the marketer.
Drawbacks of Push Notification Advertising
Although push notification ads have some advantages, we need to discuss the elephant in the room, ad blockers. These extensions block any pop-ups or push notifications from displaying on a user's screen. Even apps, mobile devices, and websites, by default, don't allow pop-ups. So if a user never opts in, they don't even have a chance of seeing push notification ads.
In addition, push notification ads may take up less space on the screen than display or search ads; however, this doesn't mean they are less intrusive. These can still be bothersome if used in excess. Users also, by default, have a cognitive tendency to look over and ignore push notifications – not good news for marketers relying on these push ads.
Lastly, push notifications are overall just a limited ad method. The number of characters per notification message is low; they should be displayed in manageable amounts and are difficult to specify overall. There are workarounds if the marketer is a concise writer, knows the right combination of display frequencies, and is OK with only displaying general messages. However, anybody with weaknesses in these fields may need help setting up these ads.
Maximizing the Effectiveness of Push Notification Ads
It is easy to think that since push notification ads are available, we must use them. Typically, this isn't the case. To maximize the usage of push notification ads, the marketer should have a solid understanding and reason for why they are fielding them in the first place.
“These sorts of pop-ups can be intrusive. It can interrupt the user experience. In addition, users can block them from showing up at all. We don’t want to annoy our brand audience and, instead, fit seamlessly into their online experience.”
Secondly, the marketer needs to make their ad content engaging and compelling! This means no big paragraphs, no complex terms, and no fluff. When designing a push ad, create a call to action and pinpoint one thing the user should walk away with. The user will glaze over PNAs and judge their pertinence within milliseconds.
Lastly, marketers should know that many web pages and platforms have ad blockers, which will often restrict push ads. Push notifications are consent-based, meaning that users can opt in or out; if their settings block these push ads, the marketer may only reach a percentage of their audience.
Advertisers should check the platforms' capabilities to field the ads to curb this problem. Some platforms may provide push ads that ad blockers less commonly restrict. In addition, the marketer should accept this reality and invest only a little in push ads to avoid overspending. Find a happy medium and use it as an additional layer.
In Conclusion…
Push notification advertising has become increasingly popular for businesses to reach their target audience with personalized and relevant messages. Push notification ads can be valuable to marketing campaigns, serving as helpful reminders, real-time updates, and persuasive prompts to users.
Before incorporating push notification ads into your campaigns, it's essential to take the time to assess whether they're the right fit. While push notifications can be a valuable tool in moderation - excessive use can inundate your audience with too much advertising noise, ultimately deterring them from further engagement. To ensure optimal effectiveness and prevent user fatigue, it's essential to use push notification ads judiciously and carefully.
By understanding the key characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of push notification ads, businesses can develop effective marketing strategies that maximize their impact and drive business success.
